Johnstone Strait Sea Kayaking Trip, Day One

Brad here, finally back into the land of cell tower connectivity and WiFi after an epic overnight kayaking trip. 

First I have to acknowledge how nice it is at long last to be on another big family adventure, even if we didn't cross any international borders this time. We were overdue to discover a bit more of Canada anyways. :) 

Last night we stayed in the dockside suites at Telegraph Cove resort on the north end of Vancouver Island. After a decent sleep we got up at 7:30am to prep for our 8:30 meeting at North Island Kayak to begin our overnight kayaking trip. We immediately knew luck was on our side because the entire area lost power, but only after Leslie made a full pot of coffee first. 

We stayed in a little room over the water on the right. 

First up, we put on our jackets, kayak skirts, and life preservers, and packed our dry bags with our overnight gear into the cargo holds of our two-person kayaks - one with Leslie and Zoe, and the other with Rosie and dad. We had one other family of four with us (visiting from the Netherlands) plus two guides - Jesse and Luca. The weather was overcast but calm, and we watched lazy, misty clouds tumble down over the towering treetops all along the coastline all day long. Perfect for a day paddling on the water. 

Departing with high spirits! 

My mini kayaking buddy

Our morning started with a fairly easy pace as we made our way up Johnstone Straight. Our knowledgeable guides shared all kinds of information about our surroundings, and got a kick out of our inquisitive kids and their endless questions. All along the shoreline we saw small mackerel jumping out of the water near-constantly, and deeper out we saw huge Pacific salmon leaping up with surprising regularity. It reminded me of the old Sesame Street Burt & Ernie episode and I joked with Rosie that she just needed to say "heeeeeere fishy fishy fishy" and one would probably jump into our kayak for our dinner. We also saw a couple of bald eagles, and visited a family of seals lazing around on the rocks. 

A little further on our sharp-sighted guide spotted the telltale signs of orcas, so we paddled a little closer (while still respecting the mandatory distance), grouped our kayaks together, and watched as at least three orcas surfaced multiple times as they made their way past us. The kids were absolutely thrilled. We were informed that these were the "transient" variety who appear time to time hunting for mammals. Not long after we also spotted some Dall Porpoises as well. Rosie in particular was on a mission to see jellyfish, and saw several throughout the day including many moon jellyfish and a couple of colourful lion's mane jellyfish. We stopped at a little beach for lunch and a short rest. The kids spent most of their time overturning rocks in the shallow water and finding tiny little crabs. 

Orcas! 

Moon jellyfish 

Lion's Mane jellyfish 

Little crabs along the rocky shore 

This is probably a good point to talk about kelp. Specifically, bull kelp. I've heard of kelp before but I had to admit I had no idea what it looked like. It's super weird and a bit unsettling when you see the entire thing, if I am being totally honest. Rosie and I talked about it a lot and concluded it's sort of like the plant kingdom's version of a giant squid, at least in appearance. There is a long, thin, tapering tube-like structure that is tens of metres long, hollow in the middle and ending in a "bulb" which then has wide long leaves sprouting from it (also many metres long). The hollow stem allows it to float near the surface where the leaves can soak up sunlight (I assume anyways). They are truly strange things to behold. 

Bull Kelp. Super weird. 

But wait, there's more... You can also 

a) braid them when they wash up on the beach (this was Zoe's idea) 

b) turn them into a horn (as introduced by our guide Luca and performed by several members of our traveling roadshow) 

What's weirder than kelp? Braiding them. 

What's weirder than braiding kelp? PLAYING THEIR DEAD KELP BODY LIKE A FLUTE

After our break we continued for ~2.5h more hours until we reached camp, having paddled a total of about 13 in total on day one of our trip. After unpacking the kayaks we moved our overnight gear into our tents (which were small with two cots each, so Rosie and dad shared one while Leslie and Zoe shared another). After everyone changed into dry clothes we enjoyed some surprisingly good appetizers (considering everything came in on two cooler bags in a kayak!), and the kids stayed busy finding more crabs on the beach. Dinner then consisted of rice, sauteed vegetables, and sockeye salmon, which everyone appreciated and devoured. 

After dinner a sharp-sighted member of the other family spotted the telltale sign of orcas, and walked down to the beach to see. We learned they were a family of three of the "resident" orcas - the type who stay around the straight hunting fish - and while we were talking about the orcas a seal popped his head up mere metres from where we stood to check us out before ducking back beneath the surface, presumably to eat more of the Pacific salmon we saw jumping earlier. 

At this point, after talking about wanting to see banana slugs all day, Rosie and our guide Jesse and a few others embarked on a hunt around camp to try to find the elusive creatures and check off another box on Rosie's todo list for the trip. Eventually after hunting all over, we found the most impressive banana slugs right next to our camp. However, I expect when we visit Cathedral Grove in a few days we may find even larger specimens!

Banana slug, Rosie's hand for scale

A little later in the evening as things were windong down, I said to Leslie "even if we see NOTHING tomorrow, this has been totally worth it" and then just a dozen metres or so off shore (beyond the kelp line) we saw a sea lion hunting for food. 

Not long after that we all retreated to our tents to get a well-deserved night's sleep before the early wake-up for day two of our trip.